


Eridan Meta

by Farla



Category: Homestuck, Meta - Fandom
Genre: Character Analysis, Gen, Meta
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2012-05-18
Updated: 2013-04-13
Packaged: 2017-11-15 01:55:38
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 16,167
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/521897
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Farla/pseuds/Farla
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Currently up to all of Act 5/1.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

So, I was reading a perfectly decent Eridan fanfic one day. No woobie apologism or anything. It had Eridan going underwater to meet Feferi and feed her lusus and being miserable about it, an element that's popped up in various fanfics. And suddenly I remembered that we've seen her lusus feeding before, and it never required Eridan to do any such thing, and that if he'd been visiting Feferi underwater she probably wouldn't have said he never goes underwater.

And I started to consider Eridan's character and to what degree the fanfic versions are built off canon. Eridan has few pesterlogs and was never a major character, so it's actually quite easy to reread his appearances.

Let's start at the first log.

[When he first contacts Kanaya](http://www.mspaintadventures.com/?s=6&p=004243), it's because Vriska has apparently blocked him.

_GA: Has It Occurred To You She May Have Blocked You Because You Are Vvery Ovverbearing  
GA: I Just Said That Aloud Now In Your Silly Accent And Had A Private Moment Of Enjoyment   
CA: wwho givves a shit wwhy she blocked me or about my fuckin manners come on youvve got a wway wwith her _

He doesn't contradict her, he just says it doesn't matter because all that matters is he wants to talk to her. Now, take a moment to ponder just how much it would take Vriiiiiiiisk888888888!!!!!!!! :::;D to think someone was overbearing. Consider how much more it would take that Vriska apparently complains about it to Kanaya so much it's her first guess.

Eridan was always this ridiculous and dramatic, even when he had a moirail. It's his default state. And he always had little to no consideration for other people when it came to this.

Also interesting is that it's not clear if Vriska dumped him or if they were never together in the first place. It's also our first appearance of Eridan trying to get someone into a quadrant with him via a third party - so by all appearances, he was pretty desperate prior to the game, and this has no bearing on his relationship with Feferi. 

(As a side note - Kanaya does not like him. At all. Just look at this log.)

In the same conversation, he explains that what he's been badgering Vriska about.

_CA: kan stupid wwhat do you think its a fuckin gizmo to bloww up the wworld or somethin  
CA: ok wwell not that obvviously   
CA: but somethin thatll kill all land dwwellers wwhat else wwould i be after   
GA: Can You Just For A Moment Entertain The Thoughts Of One Untouched By Megalomaniacal Derangement And Tell Me Why Id Want To Assist You With That   
CA: wwell   
CA: im not goin to vvery wwell kill you am i that wwould be fuckin unconscionable   
CA: wwhat kind of friend wwould i be   
GA: Also Speculate For A Moment That Self Preservation Might Not Be What Would Sway My Decision _

At the time, it wasn't clear how serious Eridan was about this goal. Word of God has since come down that pre- and post- Murderstuck Eridan were the same person. Even if you want to ignore that, I'd say it's a copout to treat this as empty bluffing - Eridan works with Vriska for some time and between them they seem to amass a sizable body count. (Also, as we'll see in a minute, there's some strong evidence in this very conversation that his post-Murderstuck version is basically the same guy.)

Now.

A lot of stories with Alternian settings work off the assumption Eridan is Feferi's most loyal supporter, and this is really missing a lot of what's interesting about him. Eridan doesn't believe a word of what Feferi says. He believes seadwellers are superior and he believes the lower castes should be wiped out. He's going along with things solely because he likes her, and it's never clear quite how deep that goes. In the event of a showdown between the two tyran-bloods, Eridan's the most likely candidate to support the Condesce - she's an older version of Feferi who either supports or outright set up the hemospectrum caste system Eridan likes so much. In the best case event Eridan really does like Feferi for being Feferi, and not for being attractive or the highest-blooded seadweller or even just the girl who paid the most attention to him so he thinks he's got the best shot with her, he's going to be torn.

And if his behavior on the meteor is anything much to go by, he'd react to anything like the common sgrub plot of the kids turning revolutionaries by deciding the only chance of survival is to surrender and help kill his friends, possibly dragging whoever he's actually in a relationship along with him but more likely killing them when they refuse his suggestion. Because that's what happened on the meteor - he decided they were screwed and figured going over to the other side and helping murder the rest was his best bet, offered Feferi the chance to come with him, then killed her when they tried to stop him insttead.

For Eridan to actually be fighting for a revolution, he needs to be getting something big out of it. Maybe there's a lot of older purplebloods taking up the highest positions, so he's better off decapitating the whole thing if he wants to end up on the very top. Maybe the kids have their sgrub powers or just have so much support that they look like the winning side.

Otherwise, the only real way I can see him even possibly as part of a revolutionary plot without major development is as a double agent where he's in a position to officially support the current regime and pass on information to the revolutionaries so without actually putting himself in any danger or inconvenience. Assuming blood caste is half as big a deal to adults as it is to Eridan, it's possible purplebloods might be given a lot of freedom and be relatively safe from investigation, in which case it's could be safe enough for him to do it. (And he'd likely only be doing it for Feferi - if any other kid is in charge, they'll have to convince him somehow to give any help.)

It's far more likely that if he's involved, he'd end up in some black relationship with the rebel leader the way Dualscar was with Mindfang with any help limited to him trying to ensure no one else steals his fight. He likes the hemospectrum and he likes being on the winning side.

_CA: fine i get it ill step off  
CA: you dont wwant to be our auspistice cause you dont wwant to get locked into that sort of relation wwith her i can respect that_

And speaking of Eridan's killing spree, I think it's telling that it's right when we see him do two things in close succession - try to force someone into an ashen relationship to break her current quadrant, and murder Kanaya. The former is not a change of heart from Eridan - Eridan opens the conversation saying he knows Kanaya's red for Vriska, then spends most of it trying to badger her into auspiticizing. When he makes no headway on this, then and only then does he say he respects Kanaya's feelings. His behavior about the doomsday device is therefore suspect - he reassures Kanaya he won't kill her only after she refuses to help him, in the hopes that will change her mind.

Indeed, all of Eridan's many requests for someone to be his auspistice can be seen as disrespecting the choices of others, since we'll see it ends up being something he says when the other person he claims he needs a mediator for actually wants nothing to do with him. It's like signing yourself and a random classmate for couple's counseling.

(It's possible this isn't intended to be trying to force a kismesis relationship on someone by a roundabout route but just Eridan being generally terrible at initiating anything. The situation with Feferi was one where he apparently just waited around wishing she'd suddenly throw herself at him, so maybe he prefers the ashen thing because it lets him ask for a relationship from someone other than the person he's actually interested in. It's hard to say for certain because Feferi seems to be the exception for a lot of things, and certainly by the end he's trying to force others into an ashen relationship.)

In other words, Eridan doesn't give a shit about other people. It's possible Feferi is somewhat of an exception here, but if so, she wasn't enough of one for him to actually spare her. And for everyone else, Eridan can recognize their feelings, chat with them like they're his friend, then murder them when it comes up without hesitation, because they don't matter in comparison.

The most you can say about Eridan here is it isn't clear if he absolutely doesn't care or if he doesn't care when it gets in his way. Under the former interpretation, he could be quite sincere about not wanting to kill Kanaya or getting that she doesn't want to be part of an ashen relationship with Vriska, and willing to respect those things as long as they don't conflict with what he wants for himself, be setting off a doomsday device or getting in a relationship with someone. Consider this section:

_CA: yeah it is your real feelins run pretty awwful RUDDY methinks evverybody knowws it  
CA: especially that assblood karkat he and me havve you so pegged about that its upright silly _

Eridan and Karkat seem to gossip a lot (although obviously Eridan wasn't paying much attention to Karkat's advice, or else the average Alternian romcom encourages Eridan's kind of behavior). He's possibly Eridan's second closest friend after Feferi. And yet Eridan also identifies Karkat by insulting Karkat's blood and his apparent friendship doesn't make Eridan feel hesitant about killing all landdwellers nor does he later extend an invitation to Karkat to come with him to join Jack - while he doesn't attack Karkat at the time, it should be pointed out that he's planning to help Jack kill everyone when they return, so that doesn't amount to much. (As a sidenote, Karkat must be really, really desperate for someone to talk quadrants with if he's doing it with Eridan.)

Karkat will also be the only other person to tolerate Eridan's whining for extended periods - he'll rage about it, but not particularly more than he does generally and he displays more tolerance than the rest of the gang. Just look at Kanaya here - one of the first things she says is that he's demanding and takes her for granted, and later on she's expressing amazement that Feferi has the patience for this. Compare how much they're talking and you see what she means - Eridan is completely dominating the conversation while Kanaya keeps trying to get him to leave her be. There's a total of 1100 words in that pesterlog and 766 are his.

One thing that doesn't come up much is EridanKarkat. You could say it's because KarkatGamzee is one of those perfect fated pairs, but it doesn't require nearly that level of explanation - Eridan, despite needing to be talked out of bad ideas every few minutes, thinks very little of the quadrant. That probably has to do with why everyone around him views him as a dramallama, constantly soliciting attention that never amounts to any change.

At this point, Kanaya praises Feferi's incredible patience for dealing with Eridan, something fandom rarely considers with Feferi's characterization. She put up with him for ages out of obligation and more impressively still, didn't just keep telling him not to kill landdwellers but continued to care about his life in general and try to maintain the relationship.

Then Kanaya trolls Eridan by claiming Feferi is red for him. Again, she really doesn't like him.

It's interesting that Eridan completely fails to get this. I suspect it's that people end up annoyed at him all the time, so he doesn't see anything odd about her acting like this, and I also suspect he ultimately doesn't care much if they're annoyed. It's a conversation that opens with her complaining about him taking her for granted and has her pointing out that it's his own behavior that led to Vriska avoiding him, and he just continues on. I suppose it's somewhat pitiable to be the annoying kid no one can stand, but most of his problem is not realizing/caring about that, so it's not like he ever noticed (if he did, he'd stop being so annoying in the first place). 

Eridan goes on to compare moirails to being friendzoned and we end the conversation on 

_CA: kan its hard  
GA: What   
CA: being a kid and growwing up   
CA: its hard and nobody understands _

While what Eridan says shouldn't just be taken at face value, things like this show that he's probably not manipulative all or even most of the time. This closing bit of self-pity is said right before Eridan ends the log, so he's apparently not concerning himself with what Kanaya thinks or if it'll convince her to do anything. He's just talking normally.

From how this conversation goes, I think Eridan usually is just saying whatever's on his mind until the other person says no, at which point he says whatever he thinks will get them to say yes (but kan of course i wwont kill you wwhen i kill all land dwwellers wwere friends).

So, what does this mean for Eridan?

Well, in sum, Eridan's core problem is that he's Eridan, not that Feferi dumped him or Sollux turned him down or Kanaya didn't spend her time comforting him or no one visited him while he was blowing up his consorts. It's all there from the very start.

It's quite plausible for him to grow as a person, and he may be capable of actual friendships and caring about people and it's just buried very far down at this point. There's even some canon suggestion of this from the alt-timeline dead Eridan, who's hanging around with that timeline's Feferi. Eridan in canon doesn't get to see what happens after he gets the things he wants, after all - it may be that they aren't what would actually make him happy in the end and just what he thinks he's supposed to do. But when the most you can say for someone is that after killing everyone, they might come to realize they miss being able to talk to people, that's a pretty low standard. A lot of what sounds like decent opinions from Eridan is just hot air - he's saying things because they sound good to whoever he's speaking to at the moment. He has a long way to go to actually be a halfway tolerable person.

One point I haven't seen explored much is why Eridan has such issues with moirallegiance. He's the only one of the gang to clearly state that pale is inferior to red. Why? The general theory is that he only values sexual relationships, but he's an emotional leech to all his acquaintances. And he constantly wants attention - chatting and feelings jams are probably not actually exclusive to moirails going by canon rather than fanon, but a moirail is still another person who pays attention to you and you'd think he'd be all over that. It could just be that he's red for Feferi and projecting his frustrations onto the entire quadrant, but he continues to pursue the concupiscent romances throughout the game with everyone else and also tries to talk people into an ashen relationship where it's not clear if he's actually planning to swing that into a full kismesis or what. 

I think the issue is that Eridan can't accept advice or the idea he needs to change. He rejects the idea that how he talks to Vriska and Kanaya matters at all, he'd rather whine about how they should be available for him no matter how he acts. A moirail is meant to listen and then rein in, and Eridan has no interest in the second half. He wouldn't even be talked out of spending the entire game murdering his own consorts. For Eridan to change is going to first require Eridan to realize he needs to - no one else is going to make the slightest bit of headway before then. Even Feferi was likely never holding him in check like she thought - his stated reason for not slacking on feeding her lusus is that it'd make her sad, so it's a matter of his flushed crush, not anything pale she said or did for him.

If we're looking at how Eridan could improve as a person, this is the part to really consider. Eridan has no interest in changing. Even Feferi never made a dent in this. He only cares about what others think of him in the shallowest manner. What would cause him to reevaluate that?


	2. Eridan Meta Part Two/Who Knows

Onward to the second pesterlog.

First, a [quick stop at a conversation about Eridan](http://www.mspaintadventures.com/?s=6&p=004228), rather than one he's involved in:

_CC: Well I am going to join my team pretty late.  
CC: I t)(ink I )(ave to!   
CC: I will need to connect after my goofball moirail does so I can keep my goggles on )(is nefarious escapades.   
CC: Its a toug)( job but its important! Everyone )(as an important job to do.   
GA: Yeah   
CC: Isnt t)(at w)(at youre doing too? Joining late to keep an eye on yours?   
GA: I Dont Know For A Fact That She Is Mine   
CC: )(a)(a youre not supposed to know for a FACT dummy!   
CC: You just do w)(at you t)(ink is rig)(t and even if you were wrong t)(e worst t)(at )(appened was you )(elped somebody and )(elped t)(e w)(ole world too! _

Kanaya goes on to suggest that Feferi has the most burdens of any kid, with an unknown level of seriousness, which I bring up because it appears Eridan is considered one of them.

_CC: T)(ey arent burdens!  
CC: Ok I guess t)(ey are )(a)(a.   
CC: But I love t)(em and I wouldnt )(ave it any ot)(er way because t)(is is w)(y Im )(ere! _

Eridan is a burden, viewed by others as a burden, and while Feferi talks about Eridan in nice terms, she views it as an obligation.

Also, look at Feferi's attitude here. She's extremely nice. We later see that she's on friendly terms with everyone. She likes Sollux's mood swings, she likes Vriska's nastiness. She keeps thousands of pets because she likes caring for things so much.

Eridan managed to emotionally exhaust this person.

We then see [their first conversation](http://www.mspaintadventures.com/?s=6&p=004348).

[](http://s600.photobucket.com/albums/tt82/farla_photos/?action=view&current=erifef.gif) _CA: hey  
CC: ?   
CA: glub   
CC: Glub glub!   
CC: 38)   
CA: yeah   
CA: hm   
CC: W)(at is it!!!   
CA: wwhat   
CC: I am wondering if you can forego t)(e exaggerated emotional t)(eatrics for once and actually tell me w)(at's on your mind!   
CA: nothins on my mind wwhy cant i just fuckin talk and glub at you for a reason i dont havve   
CC: 38|   
CA: wwell fine but you dont wwant to hear it _

Just to forestall arguments - Feferi is greeting him enthusiastically and with a smiley. Only after that does she demand to know what's up, and it's in response to _yeah/hm_ and has her referencing emotional theatrics. I would guess this means Eridan's usual behavior is to moan vaguely about things to try to get people to ask what's wrong, then pretend he doesn't want to tell them and make them keep asking and asking until he's satisfied. That's really annoying and will quickly get people responding with demands you just spit it out every time it looks like you're about to start it up again.

_CC: Yes I do.  
CC: We are supposed to talk to eac)( ot)(er, t)(at is w)(at moirails are for.   
CA: uhuh wwhatevver   
CC: Glub glub glub glub siiiiig)(. _

Eridan may have a red crush on Feferi, but either he doesn't care about her feelings or doesn't notice she's unhappy with how he treats her in their current relationship. It's not that he's acting red while she's acting pale and that's stressing the relationship, he's just refusing to participate in it beyond demanding her attention and sulking without explaining himself. So he's whining to everyone else about how much he hates this and acting like a dick toward her rather than just tell her what's really going on.

_CC: Will you take t)(e c)(ip off your nub and tell me w)(at's t)(e matter?  
CA: yeah wwell ok since wwe are the PALEST OF PALS A GUY COULD EVVER ASK FOR _

Once again, it's unclear if Eridan disdains the entire concept of moirallegiance or if this is resentment based on being dissatisfied with this relationship in particular. But he sure does sound sarcastic and resentful here.

_CA: i wwill tell you  
CA: evven though you wwill only humor me as usual since you dont agree wwith my agenda   
CA: any of my agendas really   
CA: none of the agendas   
CA: none of them _

Here we're introduced to the other half of their relationship problems. Feferi wants equality and protection for the lower classes. Eridan wants them dead. They don't have particularly compatible worldviews, and because they're not actually functioning as proper moirails, this conflict just stays at a deadlock - Eridan keeps repeating the same behaviors to Feferi's exhaustion, and Eridan keeps thinking he's right and only holds off because [it's not what Feferi wants](http://www.mspaintadventures.com/?s=6&p=004365) even though it's still what he wants.

(Possibly this is why Eridan clings so tightly to his hated pale quadrant with her - it's unlikely a matespritship could survive this sort of attitude clash, and also, as long as she views him as a threat to others she'd refuse out of obligation. Maybe he had some plan of convincing her he was right first, before confessing his flushed interest.)

_CC: Are you fretting over anot)(er one of t)(ese dumb contraptions?  
CA: see   
CA: more condescension_

(As an aside, I feel fandom overstates the condescending!Feferi thing and will interpret reasonable comments of hers in that light.)

_CA: you are goin to make a hell of an empress  
CC: No I'm not! But t)(at is beside t)(e point.   
CC: None of your plots to kill t)(e land dwellers ever work out, and every doomsday device you get your )(ands on turns out to be a piece of junk!   
CA: so   
CA: i got to keep tryin thats howw all the great military masterminds became great through upright persevverance _

Unfortunately, we never see Eridan with one of these. Does he attempt to use them, and what are they intended to do?

The conservative option is that Eridan gets them with the intention of storing them for later. He checks to see if they work at all, discovers they don't, and goes back to get another one, but he doesn't intend to actually fire them off, at least not yet.

Another option is that he does try to set them off and that's how he knows they don't work. While Eridan says he's not killing people because of Feferi's feelings, he's specifying doing by using her lusus - he may think that she'd be particularly upset for her own lusus who she's in charge of to be the one to wipe out other trolls, so he's pursuing other options for the moment. Finding a way to wipe out the majority of your race leaving a certain chunk completely untouched is kind of hard, after all, so maybe he really doesn't have any other way of accomplishing it.

Personally I'd guess the truth is somewhere in the middle.

_CC: I t)(ink deep down you stack t)(ese plots against you so you fail because you know it's wrong._

And here's where we get this interpretation of Eridan's behavior. At the time, it seemed quite plausible given we knew of Eridan's landdweller friends and his immediate reassurance that he'd never kill Kanaya, as well as the assumption we wouldn't have a main character who would do something like this.

Looking back with the knowledge Feferi was miserable from constantly trying to talk Eridan down from murdering everyone, it seems more likely she simply wanted it to be true. If she really thought that, she wouldn't have felt like she had to stay his moirail to keep people safe.

_CA: it isnt wwrong  
CA: im not going to explain it to you again   
CA: at this point all you need to knoww is its important to me_

This is another point in favor of Eridan fundamentally not liking the idea of moirails.

This is a valid thing to say in some situations. If you really like watching racing, and your friends don't get it, it's fine to tell them that it's not a big deal all that should matter to them is that you do enjoy it. If you really like killing people and your friends don't (or vice versa), it is a big deal so if they don't get it, you probably just shouldn't be friends.

However, if you had a moirail, which is a relationship based around people having differing opinions and making each other listen to them for mutual good, you can't declare topics done with because you can't give any good reason but you just want to and if they really liked you they'd just go along with it because you want them to.

_CA: and im doing it for us  
CA: i mean our kind _

This is an interesting correction. He might just have felt suddenly embarrassed that his first statement could be read as meaning just the two of them, but they're already in a pairing, so even if he's nervous about his flushed feelings, she'd read it as the pale relationship.

What other reason would he correct himself about? Well, one thing that jumps to mind is the idea he'd have a better chance with Feferi if the landdwellers were gone. He might also think Feferi would be better off with less to worry about from her lusus, or sincerely believe the rest of the hemospectrum is a threat to the two of them for some reason. But the way he says this, particularly with the knowledge he doesn't seem to much care about other seadwellers, makes me pretty sure it must be some reason.

_CA: nobody understands not evven you  
CC: T)(is is t)(e last time I will say t)(is.   
CC: W-E AR-E NOT B-ETT-ER T)(AN ANYBODY!!!!!   
CC: GLUB. >38(   
CA: pshh   
CA: hemospectrum begs to differ _

With that last bit in mind, how much does Eridan care about the hemospectrum? I think exactly as much as we see here: the hemospectrum says he's better than everyone else.

_CC: If you're as sickened by t)(em as you say, w)(y do you spend so muc)( time on land?  
CC: You can't )(ave t)(e sort of affinity for "our kind" t)(at you profess if you've only spent, w)(at...   
CC: A few days underwater, maybe? IN YOUR W)(OL-E LIF-E!   
CA: wwhatevver   
CA: i havve to keep an eye on em up here   
CA: its all about tactics   
CC: W)(at about your friends? Do you ever t)(ink about t)(em?   
CC: If t)(ey are beneat)( you t)(en t)(ey )(ave to die too.   
CC: And I know you like talking to some of t)(em. You say you )(ate t)(em but I t)(ink you are pretending! _

This is definitely the strongest point in favor of Eridan not really being genocidal. Unfortunately, it doesn't seem to have been enough.

I think Eridan really doesn't seem to have any interest in "their kind", and Feferi's likely correct that he has no interest in the sea. And, of course, he does seem to get along with the landdwellers just fine. In fact, Feferi may be his only seadwelling friend. The problem is that Eridan ultimately doesn't particularly need a reason for genocide. It's one of his interests.

_CA: history is full of cases wwhere conquerers consort wwith members of the enemy in a mannerly wway before wwipin them out  
CA: evven goin as far as growwin fond a some   
CA: its only civvilized _

Let's consider here that Eridan is actually correct that this can happen, so while at the time this read as him just being in denial, it's just as readable as Eridan saying that he is completely capable of consorting with or being fond of someone and then killing them. Particularly when the latter is how things will end up going down.

_CC: Mmm )(mm.  
CC: I )(ave a fis)(y feeling...   
CC: T)(at t)(is stupid doomsday mac)(ine t)(ing is just anot)(er excuse to consort!   
CC: Wit)( someone in particular... _

Vriska, and the unspecified-level of rivalry rears its head again! Interestingly, I don't believe Vriska's moderately high blood is ever mentioned by Eridan as a reason the rivalry is a good one, which in turn does suggest the possibility his feelings for Feferi have nothing to do with the hemospectrum. On the other hand, Eridan never seems to have much interest in the gradations of the hemospectrum beyond if someone has gills or not, so it's not proof.

_CA: all your feelins are fishy  
CC: 38P   
CA: GLUBGLUBGLUBGLUBGLUBGLUB   
CC: 38O   
CC: DON'T YOU GLUB IN T)(AT TON-E OF GLUB WIT)( M-E MIST-ER!   
CA: ill glub in wwhatevver dumbass bubbly soundin fishnoise i wwant to glub   
CC: O)( S)(IT, you are angling for SO MUC)( TROUBL-E NOW.   
CA: ok please lets just not get into the wwhole fuckin fish pun thing again ok   
CA: like wwe get it wwe are nautically themed _

At the time I think everyone just nodded in agreement with Eridan, since Feferi is one of the trolls who gets the most complaints about her quirk. 

Now that we know relationships often involve one character using the other character's quirk, it's interesting to see that Eridan not only doesn't do this, he actually hates her quirk.

It's stuff like this that makes it unclear what exactly it is about Feferi that Eridan likes so much.

He stays in a quadrant he hates because it's with her, he aids her in preventing the genocide he wants so much, and she'll ultimately be the only one he offers to let live when he decides to go to Jack. He must care a lot about her.

But they have completely opposed opinions and outlooks. Eridan has numerous landdweller friends, while Feferi's degree of involvement with the rest of the kids seems to have been minimal before the game. Eridan spends his time on land or in the air while Feferi spends her time underwater with various aquatic animals. Feferi glubs happily and uses fish puns, while Eridan disdains even those bits of the ocean. (I believe he and Equius are also the only ones who'll act as though quirks themselves are childish.)

So what about Feferi does Eridan like so much? It might just be a straight up irrational crush. Otherwise, it's pretty mysterious. It's why I mentioned last time that people should really consider Eridan's loyalties in the event of a hemospectrum rebellion - he has no reason to support it other than Feferi, and we have no idea why he supports Feferi or how much.

_CC: )(-E)(-E ok. 38)_

(Which is not to say poor put-upon Feferi whose moirail doesn't like her quirk. Just that it's yet another point where they don't seem compatible.)

_CA: but yeah i dunno  
CA: i dont knoww wwhy she ignores me i guess shes just bored wwith me   
CA: wwe had it all set up for her to givve me this thing tonight that probably doesnt evven wwork but yeah maybe that wwasnt the point_

It's odd that he says "maybe", instead of simply that it wasn't the point. Eridan generally doesn't seem to have the best grasp on his feelings when it comes to why he's doing things. I would say it's really unlikely he started commissioning these doomsday devices, but rather that he continued to do so after they failed because he found it rewarding for other reasons. He still wants a working one and would be happy with it, but he's found that being in nonproductive cahoots is also rewarding. If you're considering ways for Eridan to change for the better, this kind of thing is actually pretty promising. Would things have gone differently if he and Vriska had remained on good hate-filled terms?

_CA: i mean you think wwe havve a pretty good rivvalry goin right  
CA: or at least had   
CA: it wwas pretty fuckin bitter and contentious for a wwhile there and there wwas some good chemistry i dont knoww wwhat happened _

Considering how Vriska is acting at this point, I always figured it was a matter of her self-loathing catching up with her again and her pulling out of her current relationships due to depression. Feferi will go on to suggest something similar. That said, for whatever reason when she's in a good mood by the end of the game she has no interest in Eridan, so their relationship might also have begun because she was depressed in the post-blinding period.

_CC: Um, I guess?  
CC: I wouldn't really know.   
CC: Sometimes people just drift away I t)(ink, or just aren't as into t)(e quadrant as t)(e ot)(er wants to be.   
CC: So you really t)(ink your feelings for )(er run t)(at dark?   
CA: it doesnt matter like i said shes bored shitless   
CA: i guess im not as good a advversary as i thought   
CC: T)(at is so ridiculous, any girl would be lucky to )(ave a kismesis as diabolical as you, especially T)(AT one.   
CC: W)(o knows w)(at )(er problem is! S)(e )(as issues. _

She does indeed.

Note Eridan's failure to respond to the comment about people being in the wrong quadrant.

Eridan comes off far better in this conversation than he did in the last. This may have something to do with having more respect for Feferi, or it may be that Feferi is better at handling him - either way, he's not trying to boss her around like he did Kanaya and he's more willing to consider his own behavior.

_CA: ehhh  
CA: wwell ok thanks for sayin so _

That said - there's no real attachment to Vriska here either. Eridan is mollified by Feferi's suggestion it's not his fault. He seems concerned about Vriska's reaction in what it means about him - that he's boring, or bad as a kismesis - but not in what it mights about Vriska and their future relationship. We only see him again trying to get with Vriska after he's gotten desperate for quadrants and is hitting on everyone.

_CC: You know, I'm not sure w)(y we never talk about our romantic aspirations.  
CC: We s)(ould more often. It is kind of -EXCITING!   
CA: shrug   
CC: Probably because you fill your gossip quota wit)( your nubby )(orned bro. _

Another mention of how he spends an awful lot of time talking quadrants with Karkat. I'd really like to know what those looked like - we know for the Sgrub period giving Eridan quadrant advice is about as effective as feeding a black hole, but Eridan is at his whiniest by that point, and there's no sign of them discussing things other than Eridan either. It seems that prior to Sgrub they were chatting about everyone else's love life, and while we know why Karkat found that so interesting, what attracted Eridan?

And it's interesting to consider how Karkat's own self-loathing blood issues might fit with his friend being in favor of killing off everyone below purple.

_CC: You leave not)(ing left to talk about wit)( your dear sweet moirail!  
CC: We are supposed to )(elp eac)( ot)(er wit)( t)(at stuff too, remember. _

This raises the possibility that Eridan may be acting pale for other people since he's not interested in Feferi. I think it's unlikely, though - Karkat is pretty sensitive to quadrant matters and relatively good at them when it's not his own relationships, so I'd expect him to notice if he's about to become a pale homewrecker. And certainly if he was getting any advice from Karkat, it had no more impact than Feferi's did.

_CA: maybe  
CA: seems kinda   
CA: odd though   
CC: Your stupid fis)(y face is w)(at's odd!   
CC: )(AV-E YOU -EV-ER T)(OUG)(T ABOUT T)(AT?? _

Feferi: playfully joking or fed up with trying to keep this relationship going with no interest from Eridan's side of things?

_CA: fine  
CA: wwell those are my stupid feelins wwhat about yours   
CA: seems to me like you get along too wwell wwith evverybody to be harborin any black sentiments   
CC: Um...   
CC: Yea)(. I can't t)(ink of anybody I feel t)(at way about. 38\   
CC: Maybe I am just not old enoug)( to )(ave t)(ose feelings yet? We are still pretty young you know._

While Feferi♥Eridan has a lot of hurdles to overcome, it's pretty easy to see Feferi♠Eridan happening. The only real hurdles there are if you believe Feferi's statements here mean she's not able to feel black for anyone and if Eridan's own feelings are stuck on red.

_CA: yeah  
CC: So ok. T)(ose are your black leanings.   
CC: W)(at about R-ED, ------Eridan???   
CC: )(MMMMM??????? 38D   
CA: oh god   
CC: Is t)(ere a lucky lady you are waxing scarlet for?   
CC: OR LUCKY F-ELLOW??? 38O   
CA: uh   
CC: Tell me!   
CC: Don't pretend you're all -EMBARRASS-ED SUDD-ENLY!!!   
CA: ok fef   
CA: this is NONE OF YOUR DAMN BUSINESS   
CC: 38o   
CA: i gotta go   
CA: be back later wwhen its time to play _

_caligulasAquarium [CA] ceased trolling cuttlefishCuller [CC]_

_CC: 38(_

The fact that Eridan's unhappy with the relationship does mean this kind of behavior has more reason behind it than him just being a dick. But it's still pretty dickish, particularly when there's no sense that he just can't find an opening to bring it up. She's talking about romantic changes in a very nonjudgmental way throughout this - that people can just not be suited, that someone might not be into the quadrant. Eridan never takes the chance to tell her the truth. Instead he ends up shutting the conversation down entirely. He doesn't even seem interested in feeling out her response - he asks about black feelings but doesn't try to find out if she has any existing red crush that might get in the way, and also doesn't want to discuss what her red leaning are in general.


	3. Eridan Meta, Part Three

On to Eridan's [third pesterlog](http://www.mspaintadventures.com/?s=6&p=004367).

[](http://s600.photobucket.com/albums/tt82/farla_photos/?action=view&current=02466.gif) _CC: W)()()()()(-E-E-E-E-EW.  
CA: fef are you in  
CC: Yea)(...  
CA: that took forevver  
CA: i wwas gettin wworried kinda  
CC: Yes, it was a pretty close call, and got kind of complicated.  
CC: But Sollux finally came t)(roug)(, and now I believe t)(e full c)(ain is complete!  
CA: man that guy  
CA: hes a fuckin drama machine it is fuckin pathetic _

There's nothing particularly noteworthy about Eridan being so unaware that he's accusing other people of being dramallamas. What does, apparently, need repeating is that Eridan does not need provoking to be a dick.

The most charitable reading here is that Eridan was worried for Feferi and he's expressing that by being angry at Sollux. But bear in mind Feferi's fine here and Sollux came through, so it's a bit odd he'd pick now to have an outburst, and also nothing he says here is an accusation about Sollux's competence. This is straight up ad hominem: Feferi says Sollux got her in, Eridan replies with yes but he's also a pathetic drama machine.

_CC: YOUR STUPID FIS)(Y FAC-E IS T)(-E DRAMA MAC)(IN-E T)(AT DO-ES NOT)(ING BUT W)(IN-E AND GLUB._

While Feferi may be motivated in part by her feelings for Sollux, that isn't necessary to explain her outburst here. [This isn't Feferi not paying enough attention to poor Eridan's feelings](http://bradley-uppercrust-the-iii.tumblr.com/post/22104258292/let-me-tell-you-about-feferi-peixes). It's Eridan being infuriating and consequently Feferi losing her temper at him.

_CC: 38P  
CA: fuck SORRY _

He doesn't sound particularly remorseful, either. One wonders how many times a similar scene has played out between them without it ever making an impact on Eridan.

_CC: Anyway you s)(ouldn't say t)(at about )(im, )(e is a )(ero and )(e saved my life._

This, in contrast, probably does have more to do with her feelings for Sollux, although the fact he got killed trying to save her is likely a major factor.

_CA: yeah sorry  
CA: i wwas just really wworried and stressed out i thought you wwere dead  
CA: and i didnt evven get to thank you for savvin my life or really for anythin_

Personally, I think this is sincere - Eridan opens the conversation indicating he's been worried, so he isn't bringing this up only after Feferi gets mad at him. And this won't be the only time Eridan ends up thanking people for helping him out - he expresses gratitude quite often, really. It's just that gratitude doesn't mean much from Eridan. It doesn't seem to actually inform his actions, as we'll see when he later kills his friends.

_CA: and i just spent all this time here wworryin and thinkin about stuff  
CA: and i decided i havve something i wwant to tell you  
CA: that ivve been meaning to get off my nub for a wwhile noww _

Eridan has finally decided to confess. That's good.

What's less good is how he's doing it. Of all the times to have second thoughts, now is probably the best one. Feferi is clearly not happy with him. She's snapping at him for things he says and he doesn't seem to have much of an idea of why. Now would be a great opportunity to actually think about what he's doing here and how he should be acting if he wants her to like him. But then, by the look of things he'd had lots of great opportunities like that, and like those ones, this one will be ignored as well.

_CC: O)(, really?  
CC: T)(at's good! Actually, I )(ave somet)(ing I )(ave been meaning to say to you too.  
CA: wwhoa really  
CA: uh  
CA: wwhat is it  
CA: you go first _

Eridan jumps at the chance to have Feferi confess instead of him. Again, it's not clear if this is because of a general problem he has with being up-front in a relationship or a specific problem he has with this one relationship.

_CC: Mm, okay.  
CC: But t)(is isn't easy to say!  
CA: yeah i knoww  
CA: its ok maybe i wwill understand more than you think  
CA: wwe might evven be sayin the same thing  
CC: Okay, I )(ope so.  
CC: I t)(ink...  
CC: Now t)(at we are bot)( in t)(is game, and )(ave left our world be)(ind...  
CC: And you can no longer pose t)(e danger to our people t)(at you )(ad always planned to...  
CC: I t)(ink it is not really necessary for me to be your moirail anymore. _

Bits like this are why I find it so odd that a lot of AU fic has them together. Feferi hates being his moirail. She's poured everything into the relationship and gotten nothing in return. She kept it up this long because she believed it was "necessary", not because she enjoyed anything about it. As I said last time, this casts a very different light on her comments about him not really planning to kill everyone - if she really believed it, she'd have dumped him earlier, so it's more likely it's something she wanted to be true and was trying to convince herself of. With that in mind, the more likely trajectory for a no-Sgrub AU is Feferi convinces herself that he won't do anything because she can't take being his moirail any longer, and then Eridan massacres a whole lot of people. The only way I can see them staying together is if it ends up being an even more messed up on-again-off-again thing where she keeps trying to break up with him and he kills people until she takes him back.

If you take nothing else from this: Feferi tried her best to help Eridan until finally she couldn't handle it any longer. Do not say she's doing anything wrong when, after this point, she doesn't prioritize Eridan's precious little feelings. She's already done more of that than she ever should have had to.

_CA: wwhoa  
CA: wwait  
CA: wwhat _

Eridan is upset she's dumping him from the quadrant he doesn't want to be in.

Note here that this is a complete shock to him - Feferi's misery in the relationship is really obvious, but he never noticed it for all he claims to care about her.

It's entirely possible this was an understandable mistake. Eridan's way of relating to people seems extremely superficial, what with his ability to be apparently close friends to people without feeling any dissonance over his plans to destroy them. It's very common for people to assume other people function like they do, and if anything, that's more common among low-empathy murderers. So, Eridan may have felt that when Feferi said she cared about the landdwellers, it was the same sort of thing he meant when he said he cared about, say, Kanaya - it was true, but it wasn't like he'd ever change how he acted based on it. In that case, Feferi talking him out of killing people would be because she liked talking him out of killing people, and the idea she could be doing it not because she enjoyed it but because she didn't want him to kill people didn't occur to him.

Or Eridan can just be a regular self-centered dick here. Either one, really.

_CC: 38(  
CC: I am really sorry, -Eridan. It )(as just been so )(ard looking after you and keeping you out of trouble!  
CC: It )(as taken its toll, and )(onestly I am really ex)(austed. _

Feferi is breaking up with him as nicely as she can. She does not accuse him of doing anything wrong. And what she's saying here boils down to that she was miserable in the relationship. Which she was.

_CA: fuck  
CA: this isnt what  
CA: i dont knoww i wwasnt expectin this at all  
CA: im not sure i can handle this _

Eridan takes rejection extremely badly. I would assume the same thing is going on here as with Vriska. He doesn't necessarily care about the relationship, but a rejection implies there's something wrong with him, and that's what he reacts badly to.

Looking at in in this light, it's sort of impressive he lasted as long as he did in Sgrub, but on the other hand it's possible that the constant rejections he experienced then might have been building up to some actual realization that he needs to rethink things, only for him to fall short at the last moment. Remember the old Veilstuck settings? It's interesting to consider how things might go down if they didn't get through the door to the new universe and were stuck together in the medium, but weren't in imminent danger from Jack either.

_CC: I'm sorry!!! 38'(_

Feferi continues to apologize to Eridan about the fact he's an emotional black hole.

_CC: It will be t)(e best for bot)( of us. We can just sort of be...  
CC: Regular friends instead. _

This, though, is probably the same thing as when Feferi said Eridan didn't really want to kill people. She really wants there to be a solution that's good for everyone, in part, sadly, because she really does care for everyone including Eridan. So far, she's been sacrificing her own happiness to try to keep everyone else happy. She's burnt out and sees a chance to escape that, so she really wants to believe Eridan will be happy too. She doesn't want to hurt him but she just can't do this any longer.

_CA: no  
CA: please dont  
CA: look im bein serious here dont do this  
CA: i wont even use my weird accent while i type ok so you know im bein really dead serious and honest about this  
CC: Uh...  
CC: Okay, I am being serious and honest too. SEE?  
CA: ok good  
CA: are you sure you arent bein hasty about this youve just been through a lot  
CA: i mean we are supposed to be fated to be moirails arent we  
CA: isnt that how it works  
CA: you cant just throw all that away cause youre sick of me _

Eridan continues to argue desperately to stay in the quadrant he did nothing but bitch about. Note him claiming here that they're fated despite the fact we know he thinks no such thing. He also doesn't say anything about actually needing or appreciating her as a moirail, or say he'll work harder from his end.

Again

_CA: you cant just throw all that away cause youre sick of me_

In other words, you can't end the relationship just because you don't like it and it's making you miserable.

One wonders if Feferi tried to more delicately dial back the relationship at other times before and was met with this.

_CC: I am not sick of you, Eridan! I still really like you._

Later he murders her.

I just feel that can't be said too often. Later he murders her. He blows a hole through her chest and walks off. If he felt any remorse for this action, we don't see it. The relationship between Eridan and Feferi is not about Eridan pining desperately over his selfless love for Feferi who ignores him. It's about Feferi being kinder to Eridan than Eridan deserved until finally she's killed by him.

Consider that by the time of Sgrub, at least three of the kids have murdered large numbers of other kids - Vriska, Eridan, and Terezi. Aradia likely committed some murders as well, as even if it wasn't why she played Flarp it'd probably have come down to self-defense at some point. It's possible Tavros never did, but likely comes down to if he had to opportunity to do it - he kills Jade's grandfather and is willing to try to kill Vriska when he's convinced he needs to. The trolls live in a world where it's completely normal to kill other people if that's what you think is best at the moment. Feferi could have solved her Eridan problems at any point by killing him. She didn't because she cared about him - she wanted to protect everyone else but still let him be happy as well. Because of this, she'll end up killed by him.

_CC: In order to be destined for moirallegiance, both people have to be on board, don't you think?  
CC: But I cannot do it anymore. So I think it just wasn't meant to be all along. _

Feferi continues to not blame him. Eridan is not and likely has never been on board with the moirallegiance, but she says nothing bad about how he's been acting.

This will not do anything to prevent Eridan's enraged outburst in a few lines.

_CC: And really, you just don't need me anymore. You are free to do as you wish! We both are._

This is, remember, what Eridan actually wants. But he's still going to be angry that she's breaking up with him.

_CC: I can't look after you anymore.  
CA: I DIDNT EVER NEED ANYONE TO LOOK AFTER ME _

Let's consider this bit.

Eridan is upset she's breaking up with him. But he's not saying he liked or appreciated the relationship, or that he needs her as his moirail. What he's saying is how dare she break up with him when he didn't even want it. This would be another point of overlap with the Nice Guy thing. Not only does he coin moirail-zoning with its obvious parallels to friend-zoning, but he's now doing something even more typical of them.

See, Nice Guys do not take rejection well. How can a woman be rejecting them as a friend when they were just putting up with her this whole time to try to get sex? **They** were the ones putting up with **her** and now the bitch thinks they weren't even good enough at it? It's like they paid her for sex and then she said they hadn't paid enough and walked off with all their money!

Clearly from Eridan's perspective, he was the one putting up with Feferi's stupid demands, not the one being demanding. So of course he's furious by this. Feferi is trying to explain that their relationship wasn't working, but Eridan never gave a damn about that, it was just something he was using.

_CA: i was totally fuckin fine my ambitions were noble  
CA: and really none of your fuckin business QUITE FRANKLY your majesty _

Eridan never listened to Feferi. Just look at this. The problem with their moirallegiance is Eridan did not and never had any intention of considering what she said. He hated her telling him what to do and put up with it because he wanted her in another quadrant. And as I said, it's really not clear why he's so interested in her in a flushed way given he seems to have no respect for any of her beliefs. If Eridan was changing his mind about killing people, it is in spite of the fact he's ignoring Feferi.

_CA: and the only reason i put up with stickin my flipper in this fuckin shithole quadrant with you was  
CC: Was what?  
CA: nevermind  
CC: Tell me!  
CA: ok fine  
CA: i apologize for losin my shit over this i was just caught off guard is all _

Some readings of Eridan assume that when presented with a difference in attitude between his outbursts and his apologies, his apologies better reflect his actual feelings. Some readings of Eridan seem to think he's Karkat.

I would say the far more likely thing is that Eridan's outburst represents his true feelings, as it matches up with his behavior toward Feferi, his internal narration saying he only doesn't kill people because it'd make Feferi unhappy, and his conversation with Kanaya about his feelings on the moirallegiance.

(An odd note here - right here and his previous conversation with Kanaya about quadrants are the only times he uses water-related terms. As I said last time, he seems to hate Feferi's quirk otherwise. Possibly there's some link between the two, with him associating his hated pale quadrant with the similarly loathed ocean and fish puns.)

_CA: but maybe its a good thing really  
CA: actually i might a been proposin the same thing to be honest _

Here is why Eridan's apologizing - not because it represents his true feelings and Eridan's outburst before was just the poor thing lashing out at how hurtful Feferi was, but because when he was about to say he didn't give a fuck about the moirail thing and just hung out with her because he had a red crush, he realized that asking her to be in the red quadrant together probably wouldn't work well while yelling at her about how much he couldn't stand her as a moirail. Eridan's apologies continue to make more sense as him trying to get things from someone rather than anything sincere.

_CC: Oh?_

One wonders what Feferi's thinking here - if Eridan regularly jumps between extremes like that to the point she doesn't even register it as odd, or if instead she has no idea what's going on and she's just going to wait for him to explain in the hopes it makes sense.

_CA: yeah  
CA: fef have you thought about  
CA: since you dont wanna be pale with me no more  
CA: the possibility a some other type of arrangement with me  
CC: What do you mean?  
CA: i mean  
CA: somethin a bit more  
CA: kinda reddish  
CA: like  
CA: brighter red  
CC: 38O  
CC: No, I hadn't thought about it!  
CA: ok well what do you think about it  
CA: now that youre thinkin about it _

I would read Feferi here as hoping it gets dropped, with the exclamation mark meaning she's snapping at him. After all, she just got through saying he's exhausted her and it should be pretty obvious after that blowup ( _CA: i was totally fuckin fine my ambitions were noble/CA: and really none of your fuckin business QUITE FRANKLY your majesty_ ) that they're not really compatible.

Here's something to consider - has she really never thought about it? I could see it either way. She might be too worn out from focusing on her pale relationship with him to consider it, or she might have suspected and just really hoped it wasn't true because she didn't like him that way.

What we do know yet is conspicuously absent from this conversation is that Feferi is also interested in someone else. She likely doesn't want to hurt his feelings by saying so.

Anyway, we're now seeing our second instance of Eridan being tenacious about romance. It's likely the reason for this behavior after previously being so unwilling to mention anything is quite simple: confessing his red interests risked losing the pale quadrant without necessarily netting him her red, but now that she's dumping him from pale he has nothing to lose.

This line far more minor than his badgering of Kanaya earlier, but it's not starting well - saying she hasn't thought of it when she's clearly irritated was a point he could have backed off, but instead he's pressing for an answer. And it'll get worse from here.

_CC: Um...  
CC: I really don't know about that.  
CA: why not i thought you said you liked me  
CC: I do! But I don't know if it's really in that way.  
CA: couldnt it be though _

And here we go. Feferi is trying to say no nicely, Eridan is continuing to push.

_CA: dont you think theres room in your collapsin and expandin bladder based aquatic vascular system for those feelins  
CC: I've never had a chance to consider anything like that! I have just spent all my time worrying about you and trying to keep you from killing everybody or hurting yourself.  
CC: It took all my energy.  
CC: I don't think I have anything left for those feelings either. _

This sums it all up nicely. Feferi: miserable in a relationship that she only stuck with because she's a kind person who cares about others. Eridan: completely fucking oblivious to that, refusing to take no for an answer.

Now it's time for Eridan to prove her point about how he's an exhausting dramallama.

_CA: oh god  
CC: What?  
CA: im the biggest fuckin idiot who ever lived  
CA: i cant BELIEVE i just opened up to you like a chump when i knew what was comin_

This is known as being a manipulative fucker. Eridan is making it all about him. It is hypothetically possible this is just his natural impulse and its direct overlap with guilting people through emotional theatrics is coincidental - there totally are some people like that. But even if it isn't a conscious attempt to make her focus on him, it's still toxic behavior.

_CA: i am one sad fuckin brinesucker  
CA: overemotional sappy trash youre right im not better than anybody  
CA: im worse than anybody  
CA: EVERYBODY  
CA: all the bodies  
CC: STOP!!!!!!!!!!!  
CC: God.  
CC: Will you just clam up for once in your life?  
CC: Always carping and carping and carping!  
CC: You go completely overboard with your emotions, always looking to reel in drama wherever you can.  
CC: I am up to my gills in it! I just can't salmon the strength anemonemore. _

And as Feferi makes clear here, this is not a one-time occurrence, which really lends support to the idea Eridan is, at least to some degree, deliberately trying to get attention by doing this, even if he doesn't mean to be malicious about it. Feferi is the one who's been dealing with him for god knows how long, and she's reacting to this as if it's manipulative, not as if he just gets upset more easily than other people.

_CA: i cannot  
CA: BELIEVE  
CA: you are doin the fish pun thing while youre breakin up with me  
CA: real nice  
CA: whoops i mean REEL nice _

Although Eridan's acted as if the pun thing is insincere, from what we see with Equius (and Vriska, for whatever that's worth) troll quirks tend to increase when emotional. Equius slips into horse puns when flustered, and Vriska's quirk is moderate when she's pretending to be in control and fine with things and 8r8ctic8lly unre8888le when she's upset. Here, Feferi's pun outburst goes hand in hand with her losing her temper. This paints Eridan's complaining about it in a really bad light - he's demanding Feferi keep any evidence of her own emotions out of this and pay attention to him. It's like someone shouting at you but getting mad if you raise your voice back.

Really it's impressive just how many things Eridan manages to tick off for an emotionally abusive relationship in such a short time. (As I know people tend to throw around that term with varying levels of understanding, I want to clarify here that I don't mean Eridan is setting out to be abusive. But that doesn't change the fact that this isn't how you should treat people and that it isn't good for Feferi or anyone else to be treated like this.)

_CC: HEHEHE, sorry.  
CC: But really, this shouldn't be as bad as it sounds.  
CC: When all is said and done, I am still your friend. _

Again, he's going to end up killing her! Just want everyone to remember that.

_CC: We have left our world behind. Everyone is dead, and there's no use in worrying about it now.  
CC: It's over! It is time to play this game and focus on building something new and ------EXCITING.  
CC: So )(ang in t)(ere, -Eridan.  
CC: I )(ave to go now! Sollux is in serious trouble, and I )(ave to go )(elp )(im. _

Yes, Feferi just sat through that entire thing first before going to see Sollux. Eridan does not feel at all grateful she was willing to put this first.

_CC: BY------------------------E!  
CA: wwait  
CA: dont go_

_cuttlefishCuller [CC] ceased trolling caligulasAquarium [CA]_

_CA: glub_

We then see Eridan bopping his head in frustration.

[](http://s600.photobucket.com/albums/tt82/farla_photos/?action=view&current=02467.gif)

And Feferi...

[](http://s600.photobucket.com/albums/tt82/farla_photos/?action=view&current=untitled.png)


	4. Chapter 4

On to the [fourth pesterlog](http://www.mspaintadventures.com/?s=6&p=004375) at last.

Immediately after being turned down by Feferi, Eridan tries to talk to Karkat and appears to conduct himself decently by realizing he's been an asshole.

_CA: gam i need to talk to kar wwhere is he he isnt answwerin_

He seems to either know Karkat and Gamzee are hanging out together or that they're close enough friends it's likely. Between this and the comments about how much time he spends gossiping with Karkat, he seems quite aware of his friends and their feelings and relationships.

_TC: He's bUsY BeInG SlApPeD MoThErFuCkIn sEnSeLeSs bY ThE GuY WhO LiKeS KnIvEs_   
_TC: BuT I CaN ReLaY WhAt mEsSaGe yOu gOt, My bRoThEr_   
_CA: i dont feel comfortable wwith that_   
_CA: i havve some serious feelins and problems here and i need some advvice_

Sadly, the comic still hasn't quite pinned down what moirallegiance involves. We know it definitely involves keeping people out of trouble and seems to be connected to talking about feelings, but the latter could also be an outgrowth of the fact moirails are generally close. Feferi complains he gossips with Karkat rather than her, making it something moirails do together, but doesn't act like he's cheating on her, so it's not an actual component of the moirallegiance.

Still, problems and advice really seem the province of moirallegiance, so this seems a surprisingly pale move by Eridan. But then, he's already shown he seems to like to complain about things without taking advice, so it could just be a demand for attention.

Given Karkat is the troll romance expert of the group, the most likely option is in the middle - Eridan is going to him with his problem because he thinks Karkat will give him the solution he wants, rather than advice relating to his own behavior the way a moirail presumably would. Failing that, Karkat can at least be relied on to pay attention to things if they're romance-related, as shown by his lecture of Vriska.

_TC: HaHa, YeAh i fEeL YoU, hE'S PrEtTy wOrKeD Up tOo_   
_CA: wwhy_   
_TC: BeCaUsE OuR GoOd bRo sOlLuX JuSt kIcKeD ThE WiCkEd mOtHeRfUcKiN ShIt_   
_CA: wwhat the fuck do you mean by that_   
_CA: are you sayin hes dead_   
_TC: YeAh :o(_   
_CA: oh fuck_   
_CA: oh god fuck noww i feel like an asshole_

Things like this really lure you into a false sense of security with Eridan. Like anyone halfway decent, realizing what's happened to Sollux stopped him on a dime.

But...

_TC: YeAh i'd sAy tHaT An aSsHoLe iS ThE ThInG ThAt jUsT AbOuT WhAt eVeRyBoDy fEeLs lIkE_   
_TC: KaRkAt bLaMeS HiMsElF On iT, pOoR MoThErFuCkEr_   
_TC: BuT I ToLd hIm tO Be cHiLl_   
_TC: BeCaUsE ThErE Is a mIrAcLe cOmInG, i cAn fEeL It_   
_CA: that is the wworst fuckin advvice_   
_CA: wwhat an awwful thing a you to say_   
_CA: MAGIC ISNT REAL STUPID STOP BELIEVVIN IN IT_   
_TC: i'Ve gOt tO BeLiEvE At wHaT My hEaRt tElLs iN Me, EvEn iF It's a fAkE ThInG_   
_TC: HoNk_   
_CA: this is a lot a pointless fuckin rubbish and isnt no emotional help to him or me either for that matter_   
_CA: put kar on_

...realizing doesn't actually make him stop trying to talk to Karkat about his problems for more than a moment. Even listening to Gamzee talk about Karkat, who's upset because his friend is dead, half his complaint at the advice is that it's not useful to him personally. Rather like his first conversation with Kanaya, his ability to recognize the feelings of others doesn't seem to make him behave any differently. In that light, his realization seems like it's really more of him being a scarfed dramallama. While one could read the final line as Eridan wanting to help out Karkat because he thinks Gamzee's advice is useless, that's disproven by the next few lines:

_TC: UuUuH, i cAn't rEaLlY ThInK AbOuT InTeRvEnInG, tHe bLaCk fRoWnInG MoThErFuCkEr kInDa sCaReS Me_   
_TC: ArE YoU SuRe i cAn't hElP A bRoThEr Up iNtO HiS MoThErFuCkIn cHiLl?_   
_CA: i dont knoww_

So he had no interest in trying to be there for Karkat. Eridan was complaining to Gamzee that Gamzee's attempt to comfort their mutual friend about the death of another friend is not making him feel better about his own romantic issues so he'd prefer to bug the person currently sobbing because he thinks he got his friend killed.

_CA: it probably doesnt matter_   
_CA: my feelins seem petty and meaninless noww_   
_CA: she had better things to wworry about than my ovverwwrought bullshit_   
_CA: like the dead guy wwho savved her_   
_CA: so forget it thanks anywway_

He does appear to finally settle understanding there's bigger things afoot. That said, while this looks reasonable enough it's very similar in pattern to his conversation with Kanaya - he's only accepting of a decision once he's exhausted all attempts to convince the other person. Gamzee clearly isn't going to put Karkat on and Eridan has no interest in talking to Gamzee himself, so it's time to give up.

Perhaps also it's dawning on him that there's really no useful help he could get (Karkat's romcom knowledge probably can't do much to patch things up after you insult the person who died saving your crush's life) and that Karkat probably wouldn't be sympathetic or willing to help either.

_TC: BrO My aDvIcE Is yOu jUsT KiCk bAcK AnD MoThErFuCkIn sNaP InTo sOmE RuDe eLiXiR AnD MaYbE GeT YoUr wIcKeD ZoNe oN_   
_TC: ThErE I SaId mY PeAcE_   
_CA: wwhat the FUCK are you fuckin babblin about_   
_TC: SnAtCh aN IcEcOlD, dOg_   
_TC: MoThErFuCkIn cHuG ThAt sHiT LiKe yOu aNd tHe bOtTlE WaS ReUnItEd lOvErS_   
_CA: are you recommendin a bevverage to me or somethin_   
_CA: is that wwhat this is_   
_TC: YeAh mAn SlAm A FaYgO_   
_CA: i dont havve a fuckin faygo you stupid fuck wwhy wwould i keep that disgusting shit on hand_   
_TC: ArE YoU MoThErFuCkIn sUrE AbOuT ThAt?_   
_CA: oh_   
_CA: oh god youre right i do_   
_CA: i totally forgot about it_   
_TC: YoU SeE MaN_   
_TC: MoThEr_   
_TC: FuCkIn_   
_TC: MiRaClEs_   
_TC: :o)_

Then Gamzee rambles about the joys of Faygo.

Eridan actually tries it, suggesting that he's unusually desperate and willing to try anything, that he's just very easily talked into things, or that trying Faygo isn't actually a big deal to him. It's a mystery that can only be answered with epic-length fanfiction.


	5. Chapter 5

[Let's get a quick bit out of the way.](http://www.mspaintadventures.com/?s=6&p=004447)

_CURRENT carcinoGeneticist [CCG] RIGHT NOW opened memo on board TEAM ADORABLOODTHIRSTY._

Ah, Karkat and his memos. Let's just skip to the relevant part.

_FUTURE caligulasAquarium [FCA] 3:11 HOURS FROM NOW responded to memo._

Ah, yes. It's time to really hammer in that Eridan doesn't care about others.

_FCA: hey sorry for bustin in on the memo but i cant get ahold of you youre not answwerin_   
_CCG: OH FOR FUCK'S SAKE._   
_FCA: gams advvice is fuckin useless all he told me wwas to enjoy a bevverage_

Yes indeed. This is the Eridan who was just dumped by Feferi, which is to say, the Eridan who just learned that Sollux died, and also that Karkat is so broken up about it he can't talk.

He is not even displaying the smidgen of caring for others that would have been him immediately trying to contact past Karkat when he learned about this. He does this only when, despite his best efforts, he still can't talk to Karkat about his problems. He's not even admitting here that there is a reason Karkat isn't answering, he's acting if Karkat and Gamzee are to blame.

_CCG: NO, DUDE, DON'T DRINK THAT SHIT. IF IT WERE UP TO HIM WE WOULD ALL DRINK FAYGO AT ONCE IN SOME RITUALISTIC RAP CLOWN SUICIDE PACT._   
_CCG: BUT INSTEAD OF COMMITTING SUICIDE THE THING THAT WE ALL ACCOMPLISH IS BECOMING INSTANTANEOUS ASSHOLES WITH AWFUL TASTE._   
_FCA: i mean_   
_FCA: its not evven that bad_   
_FCA: its just soda but wwhatevver this isnt the point_   
_CCG: THIS ISN'T THE VENUE FOR AIRING YOUR FUTURE PROBLEMS, COUNT SEA DIPSHIT._   
_FCA: i knoww i knoww_   
_FCA: its just_   
_FCA: i got a problem_   
_FCA: wwith feferi_   
_FCA: and im really kinda sittin here in bad shape about it emotionally speakin_

Eridan really, really does not care about Sollux at this point in time. Granted, people can change, but Eridan/Sollux has always been on some impressively shaky ground. It's possible that later events did make him start to pay more attention to Sollux, but much more likely that it was all tied back to Feferi. Everything about Eridan seems to keep returning there. She's the only person he seems to care about instead of just faking concern to get them to agree to what he's asking at the moment.

Since there aren't other deaths until after the game (presumably Vriska's death and resurrection finished before most of them knew anything was happening), it's not clear if, say, the loss of Karkat would get more of a reaction since he uses Karkat for something, or if he'd just switch over to badgering someone else about his feelings instead. It's quite possible he'd act like this about everyone but Feferi...and, since he gets killed pretty soon afterward, even there it's unclear quite what his reaction to her death was. Erisolsprite, when we get there, adds a bit more on the subject but the nature of the beast confuses things.

Also on the continuing quirk front, Eridan isn't calling her Fef, perhaps to indicate the seriousness of his feelings, although he is using the rest of his quirk. What does this mean? Probably nothing and it's just that Eridan doesn't reliably use nicknames.

_CCG: OK, WELL_   
_CCG: I GET THAT, I HEAR YOU BRO_   
_CCG: BUT THIS IS STILL NOT THE RIGHT PLACE FOR THIS SO I'VE GOT TO BAN YOU._   
_CCG banned FCA from responding to memo._   
_CCG: BUT SERIOUSLY JUST GET IN TOUCH WITH ME IN PRIVATE ABOUT IT, OK MAN?_   
_CCG: WE'LL GET YOUR SHIT STRAIGHTENED OUT._

Eridan was also never lacking for support. Karkat is happy to devote his time to talking about Eridan's feelings, while Eridan could not care less about Karkat's own problems. This support does nothing to stop Eridan's eventual betrayal and string of murders, so it's really, really unlikely any further support would have helped.

Which doesn't mean there's nothing that could have changed things, just that lending an ear to Eridan's problems or offering him advice is not it. It makes sense if you think about it - the other characters repeatedly complain about Eridan's dramatics and we see here his problem is that his feelings are more important than anything else, and paying attention to him when he complains doesn't do anything to help. Maybe Karkat's later meteor rant about how if you want someone in a quadrant you need to care about them as a person was a start in the right direction. Or maybe not - it certainly didn't appear to have any impact at the time.

And that's it for Act 5/1 Eridan pesterlogs! Eridan has displayed awareness of other people's emotions but no actual empathy whatsoever, although he does seem to be relatively interested in their various relationships. He repeatedly expresses things that look like remorse at first but don't seem to impact his actual behavior and are immediately forgotten. He doesn't care at all about the death of another person. He is, however, either extremely emotional or, perhaps, just lacking any sort of perspective about how important even minor feelings are when they're his.


	6. Chapter 6

My original idea for this was just to do the pesterlogs, but let's stop quick and check out the other Eridan and Eridan-related panels before moving on to the next act.  
  
[CG: METEORS? ](http://www.mspaintadventures.com/?s=6&p=003961)  
[ CG: WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT.](http://www.mspaintadventures.com/?s=6&p=003961)  
[ CG: WHAT DOES THIS HAVE TO DO WITH METEORS.](http://www.mspaintadventures.com/?s=6&p=003961)  
[ GC: OH BOY YOU N33D TO G3T W1TH TH3 PROGR4M K4RK4T](http://www.mspaintadventures.com/?s=6&p=003961)  
[ GC: H4V3 YOU T4LK3D TO 44](http://www.mspaintadventures.com/?s=6&p=003961)  
[ CG: 44 WHAT?](http://www.mspaintadventures.com/?s=6&p=003961)  
[ GC: 4POC4LYPS34R1S3N SORRY](http://www.mspaintadventures.com/?s=6&p=003961)  
[ CG: NO, OF COURSE NOT.](http://www.mspaintadventures.com/?s=6&p=003961)  
[ GC: OR T4](http://www.mspaintadventures.com/?s=6&p=003961)  
[ GC: OR 4G 1 GU3SS](http://www.mspaintadventures.com/?s=6&p=003961)  
[ GC: OR C4](http://www.mspaintadventures.com/?s=6&p=003961)  
[ GC: R34LLY TH3R3S L1K3 TH1S WHOL3 CONSP1R4CY 4BOUT TH1S](http://www.mspaintadventures.com/?s=6&p=003961)  
[ GC: 4S 1M F1ND1NG OUT](http://www.mspaintadventures.com/?s=6&p=003961)

Before Eridan even appears, we find out he's a member of the "conspiracy" about the game. We know Aradia's place in this - she knows everything about what the game will do to the planet. Sollux was aware of the coming disaster but not that the game itself causes it. Vriska and Eridan, however, never seem to get their place in this explained. It's Kanaya and Feferi who seem to be the ones who know about things. If Eridan was aware of the meteors, you'd expect the imminent death of all other trolls to come up when he's pondering his own genocide attempts - instead, he'll be completely taken by surprise when Sollux dies.  
What does this mean?

No idea. Might be a plot hole, might just be Terezi being confused about who knows what. [Might be something that'll come back to haunt us when we least expect it.](http://www.mspaintadventures.com/?s=6&p=004137)

Let's move on to his first actual appearance.

[ ](http://www.mspaintadventures.com/?s=6&;p=003966)

We're introduced to our first sea dweller here. Despite being a sea dweller, his encounter with the faygo bottle is when it washes back up on another shore. Like land dweller Gamzee, Eridan lives next to the ocean, not in.

[ ](http://www.mspaintadventures.com/?s=6&p=003967)

At the time this seemed like Eridan had some sort of anti-pollution feelings, but in retrospect he's probably just annoyed because it's a reminder that there are land dwellers in the first place.

Look at those rings! Eridan has one ring with a stone of his blood color, one with wavy lines that look like his sign, and one giant one of his blood color with his sign on it. That seems pretty narcissistic.

Later he's referred to indirectly:  
[ _You pass by one of your completed doomsday devices. You promised you'd build it for an especially powerful and influential member of the nautical aristocracy, in return for his collusion during your campaigns._](http://www.mspaintadventures.com/?s=6&p=004106)

So even among sea dwellers, Eridan is at the top of the heap.

[](http://www.mspaintadventures.com/?s=6&p=004302) [](http://www.mspaintadventures.com/?s=6&p=004307)

A sea dweller who hangs out on the land, wears rings reflecting his sign and blood and also has a cape, shoes and dyed stripe in his hair to further advertise it. (I've seen various speculation on the hair thing, so let's just repeat, he's got rings, shoes and an entire cape showing off his blood color, his hair stripe is the same thing.)

And yet, he sure looks grouchy, doesn't he? Bags under the eyes and a frown on his face.

[ ](http://www.mspaintadventures.com/?s=6&p=004308)

Fanonwise, there's a lot around the idea that Skyhorsedad is not impressed with Eridan, something which ultimately comes out in canon with BeforusSkyhorsedad. But there's no sign of that with Eridan's own lusus. While everyone noticed that Eridan's riding on the guy, little attention was spared for the more important detail.

[ ](http://www.mspaintadventures.com/?s=6&p=004308)

Eridan has a bridle on his lusus. Theirs is not a relationship where the lusus has any power whatsoever. A bridle is used to turn the horse, by force if necessary.

So what sort of relationship did they have? Clearly, not one that involved much respect from Eridan. Skyhorsedad may have been actually cowed by Eridan, or perhaps he's just one of the absurdly easy-going parents who tolerate a lot from their kid, trying to model proper behavior rather than parenting more directly. Or he may just not be a particularly smart lusus.

Or maybe he's not Eridan's original lusus. Much later, Vriska will say that she'd be culled if her lusus died. It's not certain how directly the two are linked, since we know Alternia seems haphazard in actual implementation, but it does seem that losing a lusus marks you for culling. If something happened to Eridan's original lusus (losing it directly to Feferi seems unlikely because it's never brought up, but a revenge attempt by someone whose own lusus Eridan killed might work) he'd have to get a replacement. It shouldn't be too hard to keep the replacement in line, given Eridan's job revolves around killing lusii. If Skyhorsedad doesn't help out, he's next on the chopping block. Gotta keep horrorterror emissaries fed, after all. (It also doesn't seem to have anything matching his horn shape about it the way various other lusii do.) And certainly, his lusus is perhaps the most convenient lusii of all the children - exactly the right size to carry him and no larger, and capable of flight so Eridan doesn't have to get wet.

[ ](http://www.mspaintadventures.com/?s=6&p=004314)

Speaking of which...

Eridan appears to hunt flying lusii only. Not only is he hanging out above the water himself, but he doesn't seem to be able to see creatures below the surface to shoot. Possibly that's just a matter of the current storm, but it's an odd thing. And we know he doesn't go below the water to hunt because of Feferi's statement he's only been there a handful of times in his life.

So where's he getting all the food? Possibly there are a lot of flying lusii, although of the other two ocean-dwelling lusii we know about, neither fly. Or he might normally go hunting on land (Maybe that's why Seagoatdad doesn't like to go on land). Otherwise, his only reliable way to get lusii is by flarping.

 

[](http://www.mspaintadventures.com/?s=6&p=004317)   
[ ](http://www.mspaintadventures.com/?s=6&p=004318)

Eridan's gun is impressive. His aim, not so much.

It's never entirely clear how good a fighter Eridan is. We do know he's a flarp veteran and one who was partnered with Vriska, he survives his angel planet, and he manages to kill two of the other kids. On the other hand, his prowess seems linked to his equipment. We learn shortly that the gun is an ultimate weapon by game standards. His wands are similarly overpowered, but he dies quickly once Kanaya breaks them.

Given he's referred to as aristocracy and how blinged-out he is, I don't think that's accidental. Eridan appears to be the sort of person who gets ahead because they already have all the advantages. The flarp games he plays are on the ocean and they're largely against land dwellers just going by the blood colors of the lusii.

One question, though, is that of timeline. Vriska only seems to team up with Eridan after her falling-out with Terezi, and she's the one who knew where Eridan's gun was. In that case, Eridan either had to be able to kill lusii without its help, or his current situation with Feferi only begins after he teams up with Vriska. It's also possible the two were working together occasionally before she fell out with Terezi. For the most part, though, it seems it would make the most sense for Vriska to only be giving out a weapon like the Crosshairs to someone she was pretty close to and relying on as a partner.

Possibly Mindfang's diary can explain Vriska teaming up with Eridan early.

[](http://www.mspaintadventures.com/?s=6&p=004337)  
We see Eridan's hive! It's perhaps the oddest one of the kids. Terezi lives in a tree and Nepeta a cave, but Eridan, for some reason, found a shipwrecked boat on a tiny island. From how lumpy it is, I think he built his actual house on top of it and didn't just move in directly, but it's still a very odd choice. Perhaps, though, he had fewer options than it first seems. It's not clear what determines where kids can live. We know there are safety reasons to avoid living by the shore if you don't have gills but nothing about if only indigo kids are allowed there in the first place. Given Karkat seems to have an ordinary middle-of-the-road hive, it can't be that you put your blood color in and you get a list of options, but it may be that a simple gills/no gills divide determines if you're supposed to build on land or not. In that case, this tiny shoal may have been Eridan's only option if he didn't want to be stuck underwater. I find it unlikely, though - the way things work with trolls, they'd probably think a yellowblood accidentally picking an underwater location was hilarious and that if a sea dweller wanted to live on a mountaintop in the middle of a desert no one should argue.

And the idea Eridan had the whole planet to chose from is one that could tell us more about the character. Eridan strongly identifies as a sea dweller, even though he has no interest in the ocean itself. And his hive fits that - on the regular coastline, he'd have the possibility of purpleblooded neighbors. This speck of an island in the middle of the ocean, though, lets him live above water without being on the same level as highblooded land dwellers. No one but a sea dweller could easily even get there.

[](http://www.mspaintadventures.com/?s=6&p=004339)  
  
 _Flowing through your veins is nearly the richest blood the hemospectrum has to offer, penultimate on the scale. As such, you are a SEA DWELLER, a sub-race of troll distinct from the commoners by mutation and habitat, a caste which rules over the entire species._  
  
 _But ruling, in your view, is not enough. You have an overpowering GENOCIDE COMPLEX, and have made it your sworn duty to KILL ALL LAND DWELLERS. You have amassed resources and deadly weaponry from around the world for this ambition through many sweeps of EXTREME ROLE PLAYING, while pursuing a working DOOMSDAY DEVICE which will bring armageddon to all those on the surface. Haven't had much luck with that, but maybe tonight's your night._  
 _You hold a fascination for MILITARY HISTORY AND LEGENDARY CONQUERORS. You have dubiously modeled your profile and exploits after the most notorious figures and their stories, which are bristling with the GLORY OF VICTORY and the STING OF DEFEAT and POLITICAL MACHINATIONS and ROMANTIC INTRIGUE. It is an image you are careful to craft through EXAGGERATED EMOTIONAL THEATRICS, and your penchant for mass murder notwithstanding, people tend to regard you as a BIT OF A TOOL._  
  
 _You also like MAGIC, even though you know it to be FAKE. Like a made up friend, the way wizards are. Made up make believe FAKEY FAKEY FAKES. It's still fun though._  
  
 _Your trolltag is caligulasAquarium and you speak wwith a vvery wweird and sort of wwavvy soundin accent._  
  
Ah, for the pre-murderstuck days of innocence when people could read "overpowering GENOCIDE COMPLEX" and "penchant for mass murder" and understandably think that he probably was just talking big.

Of course lots of people still think that. It's just less understandable these days.

What gets a strange lack of attention is Eridan's wizard fixation. Eridan's military hobby seems to be ridiculously geeky all in itself, given people are willing to roll their eyes at someone mimicking legendary military mass murderers. Yet it's the magic he's quick to disclaim the same way Tavros disclaims fairies.

So here's something to consider. Just as feathery wings = horrible monster to trolls,

[](http://www.mspaintadventures.com/scratch.php?s=6&p=005969)  
Perhaps what makes magic the embarrassing one is that its primary associated user is a lowblood. Eridan's military bent, while nerdy and ridiculous, is a nerdy and ridiculous high caste hobby. Magic and wands, on the other hand, are found in the hands of a maroon blood.

While we're here, Feferi does want to be empress and would be taking an active role in any such bid for the throne.

[if not forewarned of your race's extinction by the whispers of that lusus, you would have BIG PLANS FOR THE THRONE. All the plans. All of them.  
](http://www.mspaintadventures.com/?s=6&p=004341)  
[ You would redefine what it means to be CULLED in troll society. Under your rule it would mean caring for the unfit and infirm rather than exterminating them, and you have put this idea into practice by CULLING THE FAUNA OF THE DEEP. You tend to wild and beautiful AQUATIC HOOFBEASTS, grooming and feeding them daily. You capture and cage CUTTLEFISH by the thousands for their own good, and also because they are funny and colorful and you love them. They often swim through the bars of their cages, but that is fine. You run your whole palace as a sort of WILDLIFE ADOPTION FACILITY, even if the wildlife's need for care is dubious at best, and the practice really just amounts to an elaborate ROLE PLAYING SCENARIO. It's still fun though.](http://www.mspaintadventures.com/?s=6&p=004341)  
  
[You would also look forward to using your reign to UNITE THE TWO RACES.](http://www.mspaintadventures.com/?s=6&p=004341)  
  
It is, in other words, very unlikely that Eridan would find himself leading the charge on Feferi's behalf. If he's there, it's far more likely to be in the same grudging capacity as his lusus-hunting, and probably only if it requires about the same amount of work. Maybe not even then, since Feferi winning and ending all the murder would be a permanent change, unlike feeding her lusus which is just a temporary delay. Feferi is an active character, she doesn't rely on Eridan for everything.

(Also Feferi's plan is not actually a controlling one - if Beforus' empress has screwed up, it's because she's Feferi's dark mirror, not because she's regular Feferi in charge of things)

[ ](http://www.mspaintadventures.com/?s=6&p=004347)

I'm pretty sure Eridan never is seen underwater at all. He presumably has been, if only because I think Feferi would know if he'd literally never been underwater. Her bit about him being underwater several days in his life sounds like she's certain of those times and just expects that he's never been underwater beyond that. Eridan not going underwater ever, I think, more the subject of an AU exploring how that might change things than something that can be easily nestled into canon. (For example, he'd likely resent the seadwellers rather than not caring about them, and he wouldn't dare risk eliminating the land dwellers, his only excuse for spending time above. Eridan's genocidal ambitions getting shifted to wiping out all non-Feferi sea dwellers could be interesting, particularly given that this wouldn't harm any of the main group. Could also be interesting in combination with the idea Gamzee has gills of his own.) But in terms of canon, he's definitely able and has been underwater, he just hates it for some reason, possibly legitimate and possibly because it washes the dye out of his hair or something like that.

But Feferi comes out of the water to see him. He may never have been done to see her, and if he has, it's been a bare handful of times. It's possible it's those visits she's referring to when she talks about him being underwater. She's the sea dweller who's willing to move in both worlds, he's the one who likes to hang out in the sky or a boat.

[ ](http://www.mspaintadventures.com/?s=6&p=004349)

Eridan sure is upset about the moirail thing. If you assume there's any authorial reasoning behind things in this comic, making a term to parallel friendzoning probably means that's the intended parallel.

[ ](http://www.mspaintadventures.com/?s=6&p=004351)

Why the hell does he have wands in his fridge, through? When this happens to Dave there's his guardian as the explanation behind it. Here, it's apparently Eridan's own doing. Maybe it's a matter of hiding them from anyone finding out, but his wizard statues are in plain sight, the fridge is a terrible place to hide things, and also the kids just don't seem to visit each other much, and I can't see someone living on a bit of rock in the middle of the ocean being the huge exception to that. 

[ ](http://www.mspaintadventures.com/?s=6&p=004352)

Feferi was not into him. It's not clear if she once was and his behavior has destroyed the relationship or if it were always a matter of obligation, but it quickly becomes clear that her initial conversation with Kanaya is more putting a brave face on a bad situation than anything. It's likely that their relationship would have ended around now even without Sgrub. It's nigh impossible for them to be happy moirails in future fic without there being a major event to cause the change of heart.

[ ](http://www.mspaintadventures.com/?s=6&p=004356)

Eridan indeed got the rifle when Vriska got the dice. I'm not sure if we ever had confirmation of when that was, though.

He may possibly have been the one to retrieve them both, given they were apparently at the bottom of the ocean and I don't think we've seen any suggestion it's possible for land trolls to go underwater. Air tanks are certainly well within their technological grasp, but they may just not make them. That said, the way he talks does make it sound like they were both there getting the stuff together. Considering Alternia has actual roving zombies, it may well have actual ghost ships that emerge from the depths.

[ ](http://www.mspaintadventures.com/?s=6&p=004357)

One of the interesting bits! Eridan admits that he's commissioning them only as an excuse to be in cahoots. He also expresses, in the same paragraph, irritation that they don't work. So did he want to use them or not?

From the whole thing, it sounds like he's saying he's continuing to commission them despite how useless they are as an excuse to stay in contact with Vriska when otherwise he'd have stopped bothering. Vriska figuring it out in that case would mean she didn't need to bother making functional machines because he'd pay her regardless. Still, calling the entire thing an elaborate ruse suggests that the devices were never much of a priority, and the fact he's putting this much energy into rekindling a relationship with her means he's probably unwilling to blow up all land dwellers in one go at the moment.

The main point in his favor here is that he's not using Feferi's lusus to just get the job done, suggesting he doesn't mean to go through with it at all. On the other hand, his behavior otherwise suggests he does want to do it, he's just looking for an alternate way to accomplish things. It all depends on what he thinks Feferi's thinking - does he think she'd only be upset if it's her lusus that's to blame?

And the thing about a good doomsday device is it'll still be there when you need it. If Eridan is indeed currently unwilling to blow up everyone when Vriska is one of those everyones and it'd mean giving up on a black quadrant, that doesn't mean he's decided to never do it at all. He may also not be aiming for getting everyone just yet - slacking on feeding Feferi's lusus would initially just kill the very lowest blood colors, which may be what he wants to replicate with the doomsday devices, or, given Eridan seems to have only intermittent interest in the hemospectrum, a way to take out a similarly sized but more indiscriminate chunk of the troll population.

[ ](http://www.mspaintadventures.com/?s=6&p=004359)

It's never 100% confirmed if they were actually an item. They're definitely talked about like one, but on the other hand they were pretty young at the time.

Regardless, this is one of the pages that strongly suggests you're supposed to work with your kismesis in a way that ends up benefitting you both, even when you're fighting with each other.

[ ](http://www.mspaintadventures.com/?s=6&p=004360)

Eridan, looking back fondly on mass murder. I've seen people damning Terezi for possibly being involved in this by being too quick to condemn when she was with Vriska, but Eridan was downright happy to be Vriska's indiscriminate murder partner.

[ ](http://www.mspaintadventures.com/?s=6&p=004361)

The panel that set off the chain of thought that led to this very meta! Eridan does not need to personally deliver the lusii and there's no evidence he does. In the event they need to be carted around at all, Feferi presumably does it, as she did with the whale.

[ ](http://www.mspaintadventures.com/?s=6&p=004362)

In other words, Eridan did this for fun.

We know that Vriska is conflicted about what she does and by this point in the story is pretty depressed. Eridan, however, never shows similar remorse or regret, and he wasn't even under similar pressures.

[Or put another way, Eridan never wanted to die for Feferi. He wanted to kill for her.](http://urbananchorite.tumblr.com/post/37434990708/characterization-meme-eridan)

[ ](http://www.mspaintadventures.com/?s=6&p=004365)

He does show concern for Feferi. She's the only one he seems to ever feel like this toward. Vriska's unhappiness is annoying because she ignores him. Karkat's breakdown over Sollux's death is annoying because he ignores him. But he's willing to delay his genocidal plans because he doesn't want her upset.

Possibly he just doesn't want to deal with how inconvenient that'd be for him, but unlike the rest of this, that's not conclusive. And for whatever reason, he's willing to do this for her, which is a big thing compared to the rest of his behavior.

This is directly followed by the breakup pesterlog. In retrospect, it's a pretty clear bit of foreshadowing. What's holding him back is Feferi. She thinks that away from their planet, he'll be unable to harm other trolls, not realizing that when it came down to it, he's willing to kill his friends as well.

Also, a brief note to finish out the Act 5/1 panels.  
[FCG: SOLLUX HAS THE SAME INTUITION ABOUT IT AS ME, HE THINKS THERE'S SOMETHING FII2HY ABOUT IT. ](http://www.mspaintadventures.com/?s=6&p=004467)  
[ FCG: IT'S REALLY INSUFFERABLE THE WAY HER FISH PUNS HAVE RUBBED OFF ON HIM, IT KIND OF MAKES ME WANT TO VOMIT.](http://www.mspaintadventures.com/?s=6&p=004467)

I believe this is where we first discover the connection between quirks and relationships. Sollux and Feferi copy each other's quirks to a limited degree, and generally find each other's personality traits endearing. She's miserable with Eridan, who hates both her puns and her viewpoints on things. So, while I don't think there's ever direct canonical proof on the matter of if Eridan truly likes Feferi as a whole or is just infatuated with a particular idea of her, there's something of the suggestion of it here, with Eridan hating a part of her that in another, more compatible relationship is something celebrated.


End file.
